This invention relates to a brake for linear actuators such as hydraulic or pneumatic cylinders, and more particularly to a braking device which is adapted to apply a friction brake to a piston rod of a hydraulic or pneumatic cylinder through a tiltable braking plate which is associated with the piston rod of the cylinder.
In order to brake a hydraulic or pneumatic cylinder in the middle of the piston stroke, it is possible to apply brakes hydrodynamically with use of directional valves which control the braking fluids. However, hydrodynamic brakes have inherent problems such as braking failure due to leakage of the braking fluid or unreliability of operation particularly where a compressive fluid like air is used as the braking fluid.
The present invention has as its object the provision of a braking device for a hydraulic or pneumatic cylinder, employing a braking disc which is rockable into a tilted position relative to the piston rod of the cylinder to apply thereto a braking force increasing in proportion to the propelling force of the piston rod.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a braking device of the class mentioned above, which is simple and compact in construction and reliable in operation and which can be readily assembled on the conventional hydraulic or pneumatic cylinders without changing the cylinder constructions or their designs.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a braking device of the class mentioned above, which is constituted by a very small number of component parts which do not require precision work.